Packers tab Connor Lewis as offensive quality-control assistant

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has filled one of the vacancies on his staff. On Monday, the team announced that Connor Lewis will serve as an offensive quality-control coach for the upcoming season.

Lewis, who spent the past four seasons with the Packers as a data analyst, has not previously served as a coach at the NFL level. Prior to Green Bay, he worked in the analytics departments with the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants. He holds a mathematics degree from Vanderbilt University, where he also worked with the football team as a recruiter.

Though Lewis’ exact role with the Packers next season remains unclear, his promotion suggests that LaFleur wants to lean more heavily into the analytics movement taking over the NFL. LaFleur took a mostly conservative approach to fourth downs and other decisions during his first year as a head coach. In Week 4, he settled for a field goal on fourth-and-2 from the Philadelphia Eagles’ 13-yard line, a decision that turned a one-possession game into a one-possession game.

That trend continued through Green Bay’s final game of the season when LaFleur opted to punt on fourth-and-1 at midfield against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The 49ers crossed the 50-yard line four plays later and went on to score the game’s first touchdown soon after.